Cemented
by Vycksta
Summary: It's movies week on The X Factor and Sean and Sarah of Same Difference were determined to succeed and keep a promise they made... a promise that somebody else eventually joined in on. Would it be fulfilled?


**Title**: Cemented  
**Fandom**: The X Factor  
**Rating**: One swear word and that's your lot!

**Authors Notes**: This was not supposed to happen... but i'm glad it did!

The idea was not to write any more about Same Difference... much as I adore them both to bits... until the day that they leave the competition, either by being voted out or winning. Alas, I watched Saturday, saw the comments that they got and once again I had to abuse the plotbunny! Abuse it I did as well; this little baby is the second one-shot in a month to go over the 10,000 word mark ha ha!

Well what can I say... not only am I obsessed with Same Difference I am also addicted to writing. It's a good bloody therapy it is!

Naturally I am very proud of Cemented but fire away if you have any of that constructive criticism. All reviews in general are loved tenfold and well, I hope you enjoy reading this. When it comes to those I truly heart then I will write and write and write until i'm happy. -beams-

Note to Sean and Sarah if they ever do read this... I hope you two are friends with the other person mentioned a lot in here! I'd be damn mortified if you are not! -flail- I also say sorry now if I get you both out of character, but I did try! I really did!

---

"Interesting... according to this site the movie that our song comes from actually has millions of fans from over forty countries, with the sequel not only raking in masses of sales from its first week of release, but attracting more attention from at least another... hang on i'm counting... seven countries! Whoa, I knew this was a popular duo but I wasn't expecting anything like that!" mused a male who appeared to be in his early twenties, stroking one of his hands over his short midnight coloured hair while keeping his eyes transfixed onto the computer screen and the website that he was reciting his new found information from.

"Oh yeah? Well we are also a popular duo and last week proved that!" chirped an enigmatic female, brushing her long blonde locks with a pearly white smile on her face. "Saying that though, there was still what..."

"Sarah..." the male turned around on his chair to face the young woman, who was only a few feet behind him. "Don't let what Louis said on Saturday get to you again. What mattered was that our singing was good enough for the public to keep us in... and remember what you said you'll get him to do?"

"We'll make him like the cheesy, yeah I know Sean, I know." Sarah stated with a hint of blandness to her voice, reverting her gaze from the mirror and her hair to Sean, who seemed very content relaxing against the computer chair. "But it's just that the way he said it still narks me! He made me feel so horrible and you know how I stormed off like a brat afterwards. Aaaaah!" she wailed, resisting the urge to fling the hairbrush across the room.

"What he says doesn't really matter, although it would have been nice if he did compliment us... but hey, different story for a different day. For now, what matters..." Sean said calmly, lifting himself off the chair to pull Sarah close to him, wrapping his arms around her for a hug. "Is that we do nothing but practise, practise, practise... then on Saturday even old Louis will have to admit that we were amazing."

Sarah felt her smile become a gigantic grin as she hugged Sean back, nearly choking him from the tightness of her embrace. "You're right brother. We are going to own that stage next Saturday and we are going to be completely amazing and make our fans happy! Whoooo!" she squealed giddily, pulling away from Sean and heading towards the door of the room that they were sharing.

"Now where are you going, you scatterbrain?"

"To see if Hope have come out of the practise room already! I know we are all mentored under the same guy but hello, we want to have a go at cracking these lyrics before tomorrow as well. Geez!"

"Yeah, you're right." Sean agreed with his sister, turning off the computer and grabbing the two sheets of paper that contained the lyrics to the song they were going to practise. "Isn't tonight Emily and Leah's turn to cook anyway?"

"Ha ha, that it is! Wow, I love it when they cook..." Sarah started to trail off, her voice then sharply becoming a loud giggle as Sean practically pushed her out of their cream and orange decroated bedroom that they shared with two others.

The day was Sunday and the weather brilliantly accompanied the fact that it was the last day of the week; the sky that was coloured in the most palest of blues was perfectly accenting the siennas and the auburns that pigmented the leaves, which were elegantly dancing amongst this whitened cyan with the help of the brisk, sharp autumn wind. A few clouds that looked like they were freshly made from a cotton candy machine were also present, taking care not to obscure this glorious pastel colour that transformed the sky cutely... and somewhere in the distance the sun was trying to make a breakthrough so it could scatter its warming rays onto the earth below. However even the brightest rays that the sun could produce were nothing compared to the smiles of the couple making their way towards the practise room.

As the cheerful and excitable pop twosome Same Difference, Sean and Sarah Smith were one act out of eleven left in the British reality come talent show, The X Factor. Back in the springtime Sean had intended to enter the show as a solo artist but when he noticed just how enthusiastic Sarah was behaving when queuing up at the initial auditions in London he asked his younger sister to join him and make a duo. It was something that not only Sarah obviously agreed on, but something that was proven to be the right decision as from that day on they sailed through every audition going to eventually be selected by their mentor, Simon Cowell, to be in the final twelve that would perform in the live shows.

Just twenty four hours earlier it was the first of the live Saturday shows and with the theme being British number one's Same Difference were told by Simon to sing the song Tragedy, a song taken to number one by the defunct pop group Steps. The performance went down brilliantly with the audience and three of the quartet of judges yet one quickly dismissed everything Sean and Sarah did as a disaster and even though the word wasn't actually said, basically reckoned that the duo were crap.

This judge was none other than Louis Walsh, Irish music manager to the likes of Westlife and a man who thought Simon was a moron for letting Same Difference in the finals, reason being because last year his act the McDonald Brothers were berated week in, week out by Simon and Louis saw Same Difference as being on their level.

Louis's comments deep down hurt Sarah terribly and when she and her brother went backstage after their performance she immediately stormed off to find somewhere alone to let the tears flow. Yet after mentally refusing to let their dream die and with some further encouragement from Sean, who eventually found her in their backstage dressing room, Sarah regained the bubbly confidence that she had developed as a toddler. The icing on the cake happened in the results show as despite Louis's criticism Same Difference were announced as one of the acts who were voted by the watching British public to perform at the next live Saturday show and in the mix of all the hugs and screaming, Sarah, confidence now past her usual maximum, pointed defiantly at Louis and declared with equal pride that next week her and Sean would make Louis "like the cheesy".

That promise was still very much fresh in the minds of the happy-go-lucky siblings from Hampshire after all the excitement, nerves and glamour that the previous day gave them and they were both very determined to show Louis that music with a cheerful, up-and-at-them vibe was just as brilliant as any other genre in the music industry... and with the song that Simon bestowed upon them earlier in the day, there was no way that they could go wrong...

"High School Musical?" declared Phoebe, one of the five girls that made up the makeshift group Hope. Said declaration only made Sarah more excited, clenching her hands and beaming another one of her trademark smiles.

"Yep! Sean and I are going to be singing Breaking Free from that movie and I just know that we are going to give an amazing performance!"

Listening in to the conversation between Sarah and Phoebe was Niki, a solo singer who was being mentored by Louis, which, unbeknown to her, Sarah found highly unfortunate. She softly flicked her hair back before coming into the chatter with her statement.

"I agree with you Sarah, I do think that you will make that song your own... it's like it was made for you two to take on." she said comfortingly and almost motherly.

"Really? Oh wow, this week is just going to be so wicked awesome!" Sarah nearly screeched with delight, making Phoebe look on with a small bit of concern about Sarah's hyperness. Niki smiled warmly at the excitable blonde before turning to Phoebe, earning her gaze.

"What song has Simon given you and the girls?"

"Lady Marmalade from the movie Moulin Rouge..." Phoebe answered proudly before continuing. "Simon says that it's a perfect song for us to sing as..."

"MOULIN ROUGE?" Sarah interrupted, her excitement levels just about going through the roof. "Oh wow, you Hope girls are going to be so brilliant singing that... and you are all so sexy and the guys will love you more than ever and..."

Phoebe and Niki couldn't help but let out little laughs at Sarah's neverending display of childish happiness... yet at a just as small distance away someone else was also smiling upon the cheerfulness that Sarah was portraying.

Sitting at the large table that accented the dining room of the magnificent mansion in London that all the singing hopefuls lived in together, Sean was nearly spacing out into dream world despite the three way conversation going on between his sister, Phoebe and public favourite Niki. It seemed that the main topic of conversation going around were what songs that the eleven remaining acts were going to be performing in six days time at the next live show, the theme for the week being songs taken from movie soundtracks. He would have joined in the nattering as Sean, like Sarah, was very happy about the song that Simon chose Same Difference to sing but he was more concerned about when dinner was going to be dished out. Half an hour ago both him and Sarah were called downstairs and to the older of the siblings this was precious time that the duo could have used practicing their lines from the song. They had a short term promise and a long term dream to fulfill; this was getting in their way!

Letting out an apathetic sigh Sean turned around to see if there was any progress happening in the kitchen... but instead all he saw was a young male perched on one of the chairs at the end of the table. The ebony coloured hair of this male was gelled upwards and his hazel eyes were intensely glued to whatever it was that was on this singers lap. This lad was so much in concentration that Sean was very tempted to fling something at his head to snap him out of it but instead opted for the less harmful option; heading over to where he was sitting and staring at him until the "sixth sense" that all people are supposed to have kicked in and he looked to see how it was. Sure enough, thirty seconds after Sean started to stare this male looked up, letting out a sigh of relief when he recognized who it was.

"Don't do that to me Sean! I honestly thought you were Emily!" the young male whined, folding up whatever he was concentrating on to talk to the brother of Same Difference.

"Cheek! Do I look like a tall skinny blonde woman to you, Leon?" Sean cheekily replied, pretending that he was deeply offended. "Okay, so maybe I AM tall and skinny..." he mused in fake thought, causing Leon to let out another sigh but also earning a smile in the process.

"Alright you nutter, stop pratting around." he finally spoke, an invitation for Sean to sit down near to him... an invitation that was gratefully accepted. Silence then bestowed upon the two singers for a few seconds until Sean decided to break it up with a question.

"Learning your lines also?" the taller bloke asked, continuing when getting a short, sharp nod from Leon as his answer to the question. "Me and Sarah were until we were called down to dinner by Charlie... and had I known that the food wasn't going to come for another half an hour I wouldn't have bothered coming down. No disrespect to any of the Hope girls but this week we have a point to prove, which you know."

"As do I, which you also know." Leon quipped with a hint of sympathy to his voice, unfolding the item that he was determinedly looking at earlier and handing it over to Sean, who gratefully accepted it and started to read what was written on it. "I think that that song is the perfect way to tell Simon that he was wrong in saying what he said to me yesterday..." he nodded at what Sean was glancing at before continuing to speak. "I mean, it is such a powerful anthem, one of my favourite songs of all time and it suits me down to the ground as that is one of my favourite genres of music."

"Good song, actually." Sean agreed, handing Leon back the piece of paper containing the lyrics to the song that Leon would perform on the upcoming Saturday. Leon took it, folded it up a second time and put it in his jacket pocket before asking Sean a question.

"I bet you two also want to prove your point as well, right?"

Sean smiled almost devilishly, leaning back on his chair with deep content. "Hello, I said that already!" he laughed out loud for a few seconds as Leon slapped his forehead for having a dense moment. "But yes, yes we do. Sarah and I have been given Breaking Free from High School Musical and I think we can pull it off and knock Louis off his perch. He WILL like the cheesy, I just know it."

"Just like how Simon will regret thinking that I was useless." Leon couldn't help but utter out with steely determination, earning a laugh from Sean. "Your mentor will eventually discover just how determined I am to win this... even if I do get a wee bit nervous on stage."

"You should get a lesson or two from Sarah then..." came Sean's comment before glancing back over at his younger sister, who was still nattering away like a demon possessed to Phoebe and Niki about how brilliant certain movies were and how quickly she saw them when they first came out in the cinema. "She has great stage presence, even more so than myself! Although that could be down to the acting classes... even though I have starred in pantomimes and entertained in cruise ships..." he then started to go off on a tangent and was in such concentration from going on randomly to Leon that he failed to notice that Sarah was slowly but surely creeping up towards him...

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOO BIG BROTHER!" she screeched, the sheer surprise of the whole mini scenario shocking Sean that much he fell sideways off his chair, earning a few whoops of delight from Phoebe, Niki and a couple of the lads from boy band Futureproof, who had just entered the room... and insane laughter from both Leon and Sarah, who rewarded herself with a thumbs up.

"I still own you at this game Sean... oooooh, what's that? Let me see!" Sarah childishly proclaimed, snatching Leon's song lyrics from the jacket pocket placement they had and starting to read their content, ignoring not only Leon's protests about her reading it but also Sean's complaining about not being able to get up as he felt he had bruised his side from falling off the chair. "Oh wow, great song there! I think you'll do well at it!" she eventually said after reading the lyrics, handing the paper back to Leon and hoisting Sean up from the floor.

Leon was about to utter his thanks to Sarah's compliment but Sean beat Leon into speaking, giving Sarah a fake glare from her actions a minute ago.

"Your hair will be a mess sometime tonight, that is a guarantee..." he muttered quietly.

"Better than you trying to tear it out when I was a kid I suppose!" Sarah spoke contently in response, pulling Sean into a hug as her way of saying sorry. Sean didn't embrace Sarah in return though, instead opting to just enjoy the one way bit of sibling affection with a smile on his face. Leon rolled his eyes a little at the scenes in front of him but soon spoke to break the silence that was trying to loom upon the three singers.

"Shall we all make a promise?" the West Lothian teenager questioned, a tone of childish delight detected in his voice.

Sarah blinked quickly, glancing up at Sean before quickly gazing back at Leon somewhat quizzically. "What sort of promise?"

Leon waited a few moments to see if Sean wanted to say anything but when he got nothing in return, the Scot launched into a mini speech. "You two want to make Louis like your style of music, I want to make Simon see that I can hide my nerves and sing well... so I reckon that we should all make a promise to each other. We will work our damned hardest and make them see on Saturday that they were wrong to knock us down the way they did. What do you say?" he finished, determination clearly etched into the young man's mind.

"Well I say that Sean and I have already made that promise to each other and I also say that Simon is not that bad once you really get to know him... but yeah, why not?" Sarah replied happily, still with her arms wrapped around her brother without a care in the world. Sean shook his head at his sister before turning to Leon, nodding just the once.

"It's a deal." was all he said to the Scot before calls from Emily and Leah in the kitchen made all three of them instantly think of dinner... and so with a freshly found confidence dancing in their thoughts and gently rubbing their growling stomachs due to the forty-five minute delay in the food actually being fully cooked, Sean and Sarah sat down next to Leon, who was also as headstrong to keep to his end of the bargain.

The road to the following Saturday was as smooth as the softest moisturizing cream money could buy. After making a video for their official MySpace thanking their fans for voting for them and telling them about their excitement towards performing "a song from a very popular new movie", the Monday saw Sean and Sarah meet up with the talent show's creative director Brian Freedman to discuss how the duo could execute an array of erratic and breathtaking dance moves to go with their song, as High School Musical in itself contains a lot of dancing and moving around. Once again Brian couldn't deny the energy they had and told them that at the rate they were going they could not fail on Saturday, which made both Sean and Sarah grin like the cat who had got the cream.

In the middle of the week the siblings from the seafront city of Portsmouth had to record their parts about last Saturday and the upcoming one for the mini video that would be played before they would step out to perform their song live to the country and during that time they found out that a certain Louis Walsh had also recorded his part, labeling them both as a waste of space. This angered Sarah and when they had finished saying their pieces for the video she stormed out of the room, Sean following with some great concern.

"I have nothing against the Irish but hot damn, we WILL show him now!" she hollered defiantly once they were both out of earshot of everyone else, making Sean instantly lose his worries and laugh.

The week also saw Same Difference spend some time engaging in conversation and practicing their song in front of Canadian singing legend Celine Dion, who was also to perform on the live results show. This was something that Sarah labeled as "truly amazing" and was very close to actually hugging Celine when she and her brother saw her for the first time, but resisted as she didn't want to be seen as too giddy. It was a mini plan that failed though as when Celine complimented their singing, praised them as being "lovely, cheerful people" and told them not to let any criticism get them down the excitable blonde practically got the successful singer in a bear hug while Sean looked on laughing.

"Are you Leon in disguise?" he whispered to himself between chuckles, also amused with the fact that the words Celine gave were just like those Leon said to him at the first live show.

"Did you say something Sean?" Sarah asked inquisitively while still hugging the smiling Celine, causing Sean to mentally curse himself for actually saying something like that out loud, albeit quietly.

"Er... yeah..." he replied quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment of talking to himself. "I was just thinking that we should check out some of the comments left on the MySpace when we get back to the house." he then breathed a sigh of relief as Sarah fell for it. Not that he wouldn't have minded telling Sarah that he spoke to Leon before seeing her on that charged Saturday night... he just didn't fancy his ribs being jabbed repeatedly.

After many bouts of video recording, practicing more choreography until their dance moves were at pitch perfection, staring somewhat shellshocked at some members of their MySpace declaring their love for them and asking them for their hand in marriage, getting advice from Simon at rehearsals and choosing and customizing their outfits for the upcoming big event the night before the next live show was upon them and together with the remaining ten acts, nerves and excitement combined, causing Sarah to start to reach fever pitch.

"I just cannot wait for tomorrow!" she defiantly declared with amazing confidence to anyone who was in earshot in the dining room, which was three members of Futureproof, Niki and Daniel... who were too busy nattering away to each other... and Leon, who was half concentrating at the goings on in the kitchen.

"Yeah, neither can I... but when in the world are we going to have dinner?" he mused, patting his stomach.

Sarah looked at Leon with a slight bit of confusion before clapping loudly so his attention would be directed fully at the lively sister of Same Difference. She then let out a small giggle at Leon's reaction, putting her hands on her hips for support. "Aw come on pal, give Emily and Leah a chance... they are only ten minutes late this time around and their cooking is worth that wait!"

"I know, it's just that I want an early night ready for tomorrow and... finally Emily, we're all starving here!" the teenager from Scotland proclaimed with a hint of sarcasm... however when he turned around the sarcasm instantly dropped, replaced by sheer embarrassment upon the realization that standing in the kitchen doorway was not Emily at all but someone who was around the same height as her..

"So that's twice in five days that you have thought i'm a woman." Sean mused with fake concern, his voice barely audible over Sarah's banshee style cacklings over Leon's misassumption. "So either you need glasses or i'll have to spend less time in the bathroom each morning."

Leon just smirked nervously, the thought that he assumed Sean was Emily for the second time in less than a week dancing a very amused discoesque rave in his mind. Sarah, however, was still laughing like her life depended on it, her arms clutched tightly over her stomach and her posture slightly bent over to help give her support. Sean just surveyed the whole scene with deep amusement before walking over to Leon and patting his shoulder slowly and purposely.

"But i'll forgive you." the taller male said with sheer witticism apparent, swiftly changing the subject and the tone of his voice in the very same second. "So... looking forward to tomorrow?"

Leon glanced over at Sarah... who had finally ceased her laughing and was leaning against the wall, wiping tears of laughter away from her eyes... for a very short pause then answered Sean's question. "Definitely. I feel that I have got my vocals right in this song and meeting Celine was just a massive confidence boost. She said that my voice was brilliant and reckons i'll do very well indeed... so your mentor is in for a shock tomorrow!"

"Likewise with Louis on the shock factor... I hope." mused Sean. "Sarah and I have really worked hard on getting this song right and all we want is for him to see that."

Sarah smiled her agreement at Sean's statement, going over to her brother's side while smoothing the top of her hair down. "Yes. We have done nothing but do our very best and it better not go to waste this time!"

"Yes, because the three of us have that wee promise to keep..." Leon started to say but before he could finish Leah strolled into the dining room with a freshly cooked pizza in each hand, admitting that she and Emily had to admit defeat and ring up the local pizza parlour for a takeaway.

The rest of Friday night went in a blur of pizza-fueled confidence as everyone bigged each other up for the next day while playing a game of charades that badly a group of pre-schoolers would have gotten more answers correct. However Sean and Sarah didn't see Leon during the gaming disaster as he kept to his word and went for an early night so he would be refreshed for whatever the next day would throw at him.

Saturday soon arrived with a flourish, the early morning rain ceasing once the sun started to cast its glorious rays onto the earth, a rich blue sky soon following suit which was yet again accented by many a waltzing sienna coloured leaf. Nerves tried to claim Sarah within minutes of her waking up but she quickly shook them off and declared to herself that today was going to be the day. Sean woke up soon after but they didn't stay in the house for much longer as during breakfast a message from Simon was sent to them as well as the other two groups he was mentoring, Hope and Futureproof... they were needed in the studio where they would all perform that night for one final rehearsal. So with a determination that was so strong it resembled a mountain that no wind could ever topple and wishing Leon the best of luck for tonight, Sean and Sarah and their beaming smiles set off further into London.

The final rehearsal went down magnificently as Simon praised Same Difference for managing to keep their singing voices despite dancing around and for also moving in perfect sync with their backing dancers, praise that made the siblings give each other a deserving high five. After that the afternoon went in a blur of make-up, putting on their outfits while posing stupidly in the mirror and getting many a "good luck" from various members of Hope and Futureproof before the time eventually ticked to a quarter to six and the realization that like the other ten acts with them, Same Difference were about to face what they hoped would be the second major test of many and the second step towards getting the dream they have desired since they were old enough to think for themselves.

The second live final.

Like last week all of the acts waited excitedly in a large seated room until they were called up to perform live to the nation, a gigantic TV in said room once again performing the duty of relaying the happenings of the live stage back to them. Same Difference were going to be the fifth act out of eleven to sing their heart out but Leon was going to perform before the Portsmouth siblings. The sales assistant from West Lothian was the second act that would sing live to the watching British public and his chance to live up to his half of the promise he made with Sean and Sarah was looming closer than ever as Hope, who were out on stage, were getting their verdict from the judges.

"Oooh dammit, my wee nerves are really starting to catch up with me now." he moaned to himself, trying to will his hands from shivering.

"All you can do is your best, believe it!" Sarah boomed confidently, giving Leon the thumbs up as some sign of reassurance.

Leon looked down at the floor before at Sarah and Sean... who was sitting next to his little sister talking to his namesake from Futureproof... and then smiled, raising his arm in the air. "Yeah, you're right... I can do this. I will show Simon and I will do my very best! WISH ME LUCK EVERYBODY!" he called out to everyone in the room as he set off towards the stage.

"GOOD LUCK LEON!" chanted everyone else in the room in perfect unison, including Sean and Sarah, the latter also pumping her arm up into the air excitedly.

Having finally been distracted from his conversation from Sean from Futureproof, Sean from Same Difference joined his younger sister in observing Leon's performance in the safety of the backstage, hoping that he'd sing with enough guts to make their mentor and friend Simon Cowell regret what he said to the Scot last week. However it wasn't to be for Leon... the nerves that plagued him greatly seven days ago decided to wreck havoc upon him again big time. While he shakily belted through what he said to Sean would be the "powerful anthem" that would make the judges love him, controlling his trembling hands in the process, Leon deep down knew that he was not living up to his side of the bargain and when he finished his song and walked over towards the judges to hear their verdict on his singing Sean and Sarah were looking at the TV backstage unsure whether to watch through their fingers or not.

"Poor guy, he really did try so so hard..." Sarah sighed with a tinge of disappointment, the TV relaying back the verdict of one of the judges.

"You two-faced..." Sean started to seethe.

"What? Me?"

"Huh...oh no, Louis!" protested Sean, before telling Sarah that Louis told Leon that he had no charisma and no personality because he was nothing but a scared little puppy who looked lost on the stage.

"Well that's a bit cruel! Didn't Louis tell Leon last week that he wasn't too bad despite the nerves the poor guy had?" questioned Sarah, to which her brother nodded as his answer.

Sean and Sarah then watched the TV with the deepest of sympathy, listening on as Simon compared Leon to being "someone going into Louis's dressing room for a cup of tea"... a jibe aimed at the Scot's choice of outfit, black trousers with a thick green jacket that looked like it was made from suede... a comment that made Louis retaliate that he would never wear "something as awful as that". Simon then wondered out loud if Leon's performances were scaring the audience as the former was always acting like he was scared himself. Thankfully for Leon he was spared more humiliation by the presenter of the show Dermot O'Leary, who interrupted the arguing amongst the two male judges to ask Leon how he felt he did... but by that point the Portsmouth siblings were now back to conversing with each other.

"Do you think he is disappointed at getting horrible comments by Louis, breaking the promise with us as Simon still didn't rate him or letting the nerves get the better of him?" came the inquisitive question from Sarah.

"All three, although the second one will hurt him more." was Sean's reply, looking up at the TV screen to catch Leon starting to walk off the stage. "He wanted to prove Simon wrong so badly and now Louis doesn't like him much as well..."

Sarah sighed a little, smoothing down her electric red strapless dress before speaking. "Louis is just a git anyway." she muttered almost darkly, gaining a look of surprise from Sean. "And besides, we do have OUR half of the deal to still fulfill."

"Indeed." Sean agreed and that at moment in time Leon gloomily trudged into the room, quietly wished the next performer, Beverley, good luck and then sulked off to find something to eat, the look on his face showing great disappointment and despair. Sarah watched Leon disappear out of both of their visions then grabbed Sean's wrist eagerly, an action that instinctively made her brother place his hand over hers as a sign of providing support.

"Louis Walsh... you are amazingly going to go down." Sarah whispered so that only her brother could hear, to which he replied with three short, but very strong and determined sounding words.

"You know it."

From that point onwards Sean and Sarah sat in silence waiting for their chance to keep up to their side of the promise they made with Leon on Sunday, the former watching the performances of Beverley and then Alisha... who also had a point to prove as last week she was one of the singers in the bottom two and had to partake in the final showdown... and the latter shaking her fists in glee upon how close the time until she and her brother's performance was getting. Eventually it was time for them to start making their way towards the stage and with that notion the silence was broken as the ecstatic siblings leapt from their seats whooping with delight... and with a chorus of good luck in their ears and Leon still nowhere to be seen, Sean and Sarah headed towards the live stage, high fiving each other with huge smiles adorned on their faces.

"It's time for us to shine Sarah!"

"Yes Sean. For Leon and... for Louis, who WILL like the cheesy!"

Stepping out onto the stage while the watching British public saw the video recordings the siblings made back in the week on their own TVs, Sean and Sarah were greeted with a massive round of applause, much to Louis's discontent, who rolled his eyes at seeing the duo. Sean grinned at Sarah, who smiled back contently... and the two went towards one of the many small set of steps on the stage. There they waited, half patiently and half excitedly, until they heard the words they were dying to hear.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for SAME DIFFERENCE!"

Show time.

Unlike last week when Sarah sung the first lines it was Sean, who sung them with such determination each word seemed to hit the audience, drawing their attention more and more. Sarah then started to sing with that same headstrong prowess and before long the music upped its tempo as brother and sister got up and began to sing in the perfect, cheerful harmony that caught the attention of the quartet of judges back at the very first audition in London.

As the soundtrack to Breaking Free bounced off the walls of the studio the voices of Sean and Sarah boomed louder, singing each word perfectly together and brilliantly in tune... Sean mentally praising himself for not going off-key like on that one occasion last week. With the audience mesmerized the words continued to flow faultlessly and their dancing flowed as elegantly as a waterfall. There was also one part in the song that they had to leap off what appeared to be school desks, which the siblings did with the greatest of confidence. This seemingly neverending display of brilliance continued up until the last word sung and the final action performed and when the music stopped playing the audience cheered a tenfold louder than they did last week for the siblings, who couldn't contain their joy.

"We definitely did the business!" Sean gasped to his sister, who ecstatically wrapped her arm around his waist.

"Oh we did! Wow, this is just all so amazing and cool!" Sarah squealed as together with Sean they made the short walk over to the judges panel. After what seemed to be forever but in reality was about ten seconds the audience finally ceased their cheers and wolf-whistles of approval and the moment of truth beckoned.

Would their promise, originally dating from seven days ago, be completed? Would Louis Walsh, hater of their performance last week, be overcome with emotion and admit that yes, he does indeed like the cheesy pop music genre? This was the deciding point, here and now.

"Come on Louis, just admit it..." Sarah spoke through gritted teeth as both she and Sean looked on intently at the music mogul from Dublin.

"I didn't like your performance last week, I admit..." Louis began, the grin on his face almost looking murderous and maniacal. "This week? Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse... it did!"

Upon that sentence a loud chorus of booing echoed across the studio with force and Sean and Sarah once again lost their smiles and developed looks of concern and disappointment... but Louis was very much undeterred as he continued his rant, much to the definite anger that Same Difference's mentor, Simon, was showing.

"You two are like a pair of wind up, blow up Barbie dolls! You are both so fake and pointless and I just don't get you, I really don't. I have no idea why you two are in this competition and I don't think I ever will."

"Oh just ignore him!" came the shrill tone of Sharon Osbourne's voice, waving her hand in front of Louis's face to get him to shut up. "He knows nothing. You two were great and I loved you!"

Smiles started to reappear on the faces of the duo that made Same Difference as Sharon continued to praise them, saying that they made Breaking Free their own song. The youngest judge and Leon's mentor Dannii Minogue also lavished praise on them, telling the duo that when they enter a room their carefree and happy personas make everyone else smile and Simon summed it up with a blunt, to the point sentence that gained the biggest cheer of the night from the studio audience; "You're having fun, you know who you are, you worked resiliently and you nailed it!"

When the cheer died down Dermot headed over to Sean and Sarah, who now both had their hands behind their backs. Sarah was glaring at Louis, who gave her a scornful look at the attempt at intimidation.

"So..." Dermot began, placing his hand on Sean's shoulder with some comfort. "Three judges loved you yet once again you failed to convince Louis. Is there anything you want to say to him at this particular moment in time?"

"Actually yeah..." Sean began, not knowing that Sarah was wishing for him to fling water over the smug Dubliner's face. "We want to know... we have worked so hard, so very hard and we felt that we did alright tonight. What can we do to get you to change your mind?" he asked with some concern.

"Do this!" announced Sharon, blowing a raspberry in Louis's face and gaining a mixture of laughter and delighted yells from the audience... as well as a grin from Sarah. Yet Louis ignored Sharon's display of immaturity and replied with a two word answer to Sean.

"You can't."

"But surely there must be..."

"No, there is no way."

Dermot sighed and decided to step into the argument that appeared to be breaking out between Sean and Louis. "Come on now Louis, there must be SOMETHING they can do!"

"I'm sorry..." Louis stated bluntly, leaning back against his chair. "But this is not my genre of music. I don't like it and therefore, I don't like them."

"You miserable prat." Simon quickly retorted, giving Louis a death glare that would have made the Irish music manager drop down onto the floor if it had the power to do so.

After another mini disagreement between Simon and Louis and Dermot interrupting them to give the watching British public the number to call to keep Same Difference in the competition... during which the siblings smiled brightly and made pleading actions with their hands... Sean and Sarah were given one final around of applause as together they went off the stage, the former walking with some pace and the latter practically skipping. This continued until they were out of sight of everyone in the studio then when the coast was clear, Sarah let out a small shriek.

"Aaaaaaaah, that man is such. An. ANNOYANCE!" she wailed, grabbing onto Sean's arms like they were bars of chocolate waiting to be devoured. "He is living in a time warp I tell you!"

"And not only that..." her brother spoke softly, looking back towards the main room where the other acts were being kept. "We also broke our half of the promise. Louis hated us once again, just like Simon wasn't impressed with Leon. That actually hurts a little."

Sarah nodded glumly, pulling Sean towards her for a hug that was happily returned. "Yeah... yet we still have our dream, right?"

"Glad you realize that! So you are not going to storm off this time?"

"Nope!"

"That's good..." Sean smiled, even though he was still disappointed at Louis's critical comments. "Now shall we go and see if Leon has reappeared?"

Sarah nodded frantically as her response and with their new mission strong in their minds, Sean and the sister he adored so much set off to the main room, hoping to find Leon and talk things through. A promise may have been broken but surely, deep down, things would be pretty strong, right? That was what Sean and Sarah were definitely hoping for.

An hour and a half had passed since Sean and Sarah's performance on stage and the time was quickly ticking away. The live results show had already started and on stage Dermot was getting ready to introduce Celine Dion as the main performer on the show, which left approximately fifteen minutes until the remaining eleven acts would have to reappear on the stage. The siblings had hoped that by this moment in time they would have found Leon and talked to him about what had happened to both them and him concerning the comments they all received but unfortunately for them that wasn't the case.

As soon as they entered the main room after singing Breaking Free for the nation to witness all five girls that made up Hope surrounded Sean and Sarah and gave them lots of advice for blanking out the comments that Louis directed at them on stage. Once the duo managed to break away from their conversation with Hope they did see Leon but before they could shout hi and call him over he was dragged away by Fearne Cotton, who was the presenter of the behind-the-scenes show that would occur after the main performances. Fed up of waiting like a spare part Sean let his stomach lead the way into the canteen and Sarah went into their shared dressing room to touch up her make-up yet as soon as that happened Leon finally finished speaking to Fearne and was in the main room, disappearing unintentionally when the siblings had completed their individual business. That was how it was from that point onwards; Same Difference and Leon always seemed to miss each other without really knowing about it.

With the clock now saying that it was only eleven minutes until their fate would be decided Sean and Sarah emerged into the main room for what was around the thirtieth time of the evening, having just gave some insight to Fearne for her show, which was known as The Xtra Factor. The pair quickly glanced around the room hoping to find the young Scot in there as well and finally their prayers had been answered for sure enough there was Leon, just finishing a conversation with solo artist Emily, who was the youngest in the competition.

"At long bloody last, hey sis?" Sean spoke with accomplishment but as he went over to speak to him Sarah tugged back on his jacket.

"Hang on here, he could be going out somewhere..." the blonde giggled, a hint of sarcasm laced in her tone of voice. "Nope, he's staying put! Amazing ha ha!"

Sean shook his head at his sister, who was still clinging onto the arm of his jacket and called Leon to get his attention, beckoning to a trio of empty seats when the Scot looked in Sean and Sarah's general direction. Letting go of his jacket arm... nearly sending Sean's arm in a wayward direction in the process, Sarah quickly dashed ahead to get the best of the three seats, Leon following suit and Sean not long afterwards. Yet instead of engaging in a conversation straightaway Leon chose to look down at the floor with a exceedingly crestfallen expression plastered on his face after saying hellos to the siblings, who looked at each other and then looked back at the highly distracted young singer.

"Er... Leon?" Sean asked nervously, not wanting to push his mood further and making it go haywire.

Sarah looked at her brother with a hint of disdain then formed a little plot in her mind to try and get Leon to talk. "Say Leon, i'll tell you what... if you talk to us about what happened earlier you can try and convince me that Jamie Cullum is the best singer ever!"

"Whatever."

"Is that one of his songs?"

"Not funny Sarah." Leon replied bluntly, causing Sarah to sigh somewhat downheartened. It wasn't the best attempt at a joke and she would have been the first person to admit that, but she thought that by mentioning Leon's favourite singer it would perk him up. Alas, no luck.

The seemingly eerie presence that silence usually liked to cast whenever it had the chance repeated its cycle as the small area that Same Difference and Leon were sitting around became the only place in the room that didn't even make a sound. There were actions however, as Sean and Sarah were communicating to each other with shrugs and points, both clearly confused as to how they could get Leon, who seemed to be developing a new pastime in staring at the floor while wallowing in his thoughts, to even mutter a sentence to them. The pressure was on them both and time was clearly not on their side; it was ebbing away further and further. Soon the remaining eleven acts will be meeting their mentors, who would then join them as they walked through the doors to find out whether their dreams would continue for another week. It was proving to be very hopeless indeed...

"There must be something darnit!" Sarah hissed to Sean, who suddenly remembered an occurrence that happened to him seven days ago...

"Do you remember what you did last week after we sung Tragedy and went backstage?" Sean asked his sister, his voice at normal speaking level.

Sarah tilted her head at an angle with a frown, clearly bewildered at what Sean just asked... but she still answered him anyway. "I stormed off to sulk, you know that. Unless this is some elaborate plan to mess my hair up again!"

"Exactly, you went off to sulk..." Sean repeated, ignoring the last part of Sarah's comment as he launched into an explanation. "You left me on my own, wondering why your mood changed as sudden as it did but then I came across this... well...this philosopher." he made emphasis on the last word, motioning his head towards the still crestfallen Leon.

At that exact moment Sarah finally twigged as to what her brother was playing at and fully supported the plan, clapping excitedly. "Oh really now? Wow, that is so cool! What did this person say to you?"

"This man told me that he was once told that sometimes even the bluntest of sentences can change your life... it can be for the better, it can be for the worse. However he said that it was down to the person themselves to decide whether to make the sentence a good one or a bad one. We may not have the power when it comes to what we are told, but we can change it to whatever end of the scale we see fit..."

"Alright, you win, you have my attention now!" Leon interrupted, holding his hands up and shaking his head. "Pretty fucking hypocritical of me to be like this now when last week I told you that concerning Sarah..." he smirked, said smirk becoming a grin when Sean got nudged a couple of times in the ribs by Sarah herself.

"You said it, not me... but if you want me to agree then yes, you are a hypocrite." Sean laughed.

Leon also laughed, watching Sarah take notice upon the announcer telling the acts that it was three minutes before they were due to go on stage for the result. "It's just that it wasn't Simon this week, it was Louis as well! I know that I can get a wee nervous but that is because I want this so badly for my Mum. I am doing this not just for my own needs. All I want is to give her the best in life and Simon and Louis getting on my back doesn't help."

"Louis is a whinging twit though." Sarah practically seethed, getting a mutual nod of agreement from both Sean and Leon.

"Leon, remember what you also said to me last week?" Sean asked, making Leon think for a few seconds. The Scot then suddenly remembered and pointed victoriously at Sean, while Sarah watched some of the other acts scramble about frantically to prepare themselves for the moment of truth.

"At the end of the day there are people who are going to like what we sing and how we sing it and others will be replused. It will hurt, but we have to stand up to it in the end and face it head on... and that I believe is word for word." Leon finished defiantly while letting out a sigh. "But this week I wasn't expecting a double whammy."

Sean nodded sympathetically. "This week Sarah and I weren't expecting a girl on some blogging site to accuse me and her of having sex together, yet we just laughed. I mean, if this girl wants to have that warped fantasy then so be it and if people want to hate us then fine, go ahead. We will still try to get Louis to like our music no matter what... yet as long as there are people backing us up then that is really all that counts in the end."

"Like Sean and I have each other and you... you have your Mum." Sarah smiled gracefully, the last few words suddenly hitting home with Leon.

"Yeah... you're totally right. You are both right." the West Lothian teenager said with determination, leaping up from his chair in one swift jump. "Simon and Louis can say all that they want but while I have my fans and my Mum supporting me then I am ready to take on the world."

"And Louis can whinge and gripe like the moron he is at me and my sister but we have backing and we will achieve what we have wanted since we were kids; to become successful singers in our own cheesy right." Sean replied with a smirk. "Welcome back to planet Earth, Leon." he finished sarcastically, also getting up from his chair and helping Sarah up, who stumbled back into hers when she first tried to stand up.

"Shame about the promise though, huh?"

"I think we just made another one to counter the first, don't you?" Sean said thoughtfully while Leon took a few seconds out to think it over... but when he twigged that Sean was indeed correct Simon called out to the siblings from Portsmouth.

"Come on you two! Save the yakking till afterwards already!" he shouted with some force and in that instant Sarah suddenly squealed with glee, grabbing Sean by the arm and practically dragging him over towards Simon.

"Good luck!" Leon called out to Sean and Sarah.

"We don't need it and neither will you!" the duo that made Same Difference trilled out in unison, causing Leon to smile before the Scot suddenly dashed off to find his own mentor, Dannii.

Together with a rather impatient Simon, Sean and Sarah had just managed to group up with Hope and Futureproof before the announcer started calling out the judges one by one to re-enter the stage with the acts that they were watching over. Just like they were the week before Simon and his three groups were called out last again and as soon as the announcment was finished the grin on Sarah's face broadened as wide as it could get and with Sean laughing at her display of glee he followed her on the stage, choosing to remain a little behind her when the three groups stood side by side so everyone could clearly see the audience in front of them.

After another ten seconds of cheering the audience fell into silence so Dermot could announce the first of the nine acts that would definitely be performing in The X Factor another week. Sean and Sarah looked on with determination but said confidence did not wane one bit when Emily, the solo singer who is mentored by Sharon, was the first act guaranteed safety.

"Man, I hope we are not called out last this time around." Sarah whispered to her brother behind her, who simply nodded as his reply.

Silence then bestowed itself upon the studio again as Dermot purposely paused before announcing the name of the second act who would be performing live in another seven days time. At this point in time Sarah could feel her right leg starting to shake a little uncontrollably...

"Don't do this now leg!"

"SAME DIFFERENCE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sarah wailed in a mixture of euphoria and discomfort as her leg started to shake all the more. She put the pain to one side as she gleefully hugged her brother, who was also extremely elated upon living the dream for another week, before joining Sean in hugging their mentor, who developed a grin that the siblings would be very proud of. Sarah then quickly span around and stuck her tongue out at Louis, who just rolled his eyes, then linked arms with Sean as the twosome set towards the backstage that they had just come out of over a minute ago. However before going out of sight completely they both gave Leon a quick thumbs-up, who returned the gesture.

"Ooooh, my leg will not stop shaking!" Sarah announced with a little distress once the two members of Same Difference were safely backstage.

"Sorry, but I don't care!" Sean proudly boomed, getting Sarah in another bear hug and fluffing up her hair into extremes. "Roll on next Saturday; i'm on top of the world!"

"Hey, that doesn't mean that I am!" Sarah sarcastically protested, not giving a damn that Sean had made her hair resemble the fluffiest of cotton candy. "Oh, wow, it's stopped already." she then pointed out matter-of-factly, earning herself a laugh from Sean.

"Excitement my baby sis, excitement."

"I guess it must be! Now, shall we go and watch what's going on in the big room of doom?"

"Yes." Sean agreed, now taking on the duty of grabbing the sibling by the arm and dragging them to their destination... not that Sarah was complaining, she was used to rushing around in heels without falling over.

Sean and Sarah reached the main room very quickly, where they were greeted and congratulated by first Emily and then Beverley, who was told after the siblings that she was through to next week. This pattern continued for each and every act that Dermot announced were definitely going through to next week but as more and more acts joined them all in the same room... including fellow group Futureproof, who nearly knocked Sarah flying with a charging hug... one particular person still remained out on stage.

Leon.

He was standing nervously next to Dannii, along with Hope, Louis's act Daniel and Alisha, who was mentored by Sharon. Sean and Sarah were also looking on nervously, watching the TV while not daring to take their eyes off it for a second.

"Dermot is so evil when he does those pauses like that." Sarah stated, while Sean stood closer to her and lazily draped his arm over his sister's shoulders.

"Maybe it's to make the show last longer?" he said jokingly... and as soon as Sean said those words Dermot announced the name of the eighth act who would be performing live on The X Factor next Saturday.

"LEON!"

"HELL YES!" the Scot cheered on stage, blowing a kiss to his Mum and then gratefully embracing an ecstatic Dannii.

"AMAZING!" Sean hollered to Sean backstage, pulling her brother into a hug and jabbing him in the ribs as revenge for him messing her blonde locks up earlier.

"Whose side are they on?" Aaron from Futureproof asked his fellow bandmates, who mutually shrugged their shoulders in response... and from that point on the rest of the evening seemed to fly by.

The time was now twenty minutes past nine and despite the results show having been finished a lengthy fifty minutes ago Sean and Sarah, the amazing duo that made up Same Difference, were still lurking around backstage. The siblings were waiting for Charlie and Emily from Hope so they, along with the other members of Hope and all of Futureproof, could head off into central London for a night of drive through fast food delights. Yet they were not waiting in silence, they were busy nattering away about the night that had just unfolded in front of them like it was a life or death situation.

"Bit of a shocker that Daniel was booted out of the competition tonight." Sean eventually said to his sister, trying to steer the topic of conversation away about when he would think he would find a girlfriend.

"Yeah..." Sarah replied in a daze, suddenly not caring about Sean's love life. "Yet he was one of Louis's acts..."

"A crap song choice though Sarah, admit it."

"I do admit... yet i'm seeing this as revenge for Louis picking on us. Now we have to show him what we can do next week, it's big band week and I know he'll except us to fail!"

Sean agreed with his sister's statement and was just about to get Sarah in a headlock to transform her hair into a scruffy mess again when a male voice called out their names. Brother and sister turned around simultaneously to discover that it was Leon who called out to them, the Scot jogging up towards the siblings.

"Hey, glad to see you two are still here, i've been looking everywhere for you hoping!" he managed to gasp in between breaths when finally reaching Sean and Sarah. "I just wanted to say thanks for snapping me out of my wee depression back there. It meant a lot."

"No point thanking me, Sean said most of the stuff." Sarah pointed out modestly. "Sometimes when it comes to things like that I can get my words confused and I just sound like a silly twit!" she finished giddily, flashing another of her near-famous grins while Sean smiled. He then tapped the smaller man on the shoulder to gain his attention.

"So why are you still doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Dannii to finish talking to Fearne and then we, including Rhydian and Andy, are all off to Pizza Hut. It's Dannii's treat to say well done for us all getting through."

"Nice!"

"I know! What about you two then... your interview was ages ago so why are you both here?"

"Sarah and I are waiting for Charlie and Emily then we are off out... I think to Burger King this time." came Sean's reply, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Yeah, I don't think we will be going to McDonalds again as I think we embarrassed everyone else last week with our random laughing and shrieking!" Sarah reminisced with amusement, making Sean laugh and Leon shake his head with a smile. A few seconds of stony silence then graced the scene before Leon tapped into the side of his personality that Sean labeled as the Scot's "hidden philosopher" side.

"You know that promise we kinda made back before the result? Well I think that is definitely a promise that we all can keep. I really want to do well for Mum, to make her happy and to give her everything she wants in life as thanks... and you two are doing this for more people than just yourselves like me."

"Your point?" Sarah asked bluntly.

"How about we shake on that promise? No matter what Simon says to me and no matter what Louis gripes at you two... as well as myself now... we just take it on the chin. Even if it hurts so much we just smile and get on with it, for we know what we can achieve."

Sean and Sarah shared a mutual glance at each other. "All very well and good..." Sean mused, trying to sound like a very important and respected person. "But you have forgotten one part of the promise."

Leon looked on quizzically. "No I haven't."

"Yes you have." replied Sean, trying not to chuckle at how Leon was acting like Sarah can do on many an occasion. "You forgot the part that was never said... the part that goes something along the lines of "Not only that but the three of us will remain firm friends from this moment on so we can all have a good laugh about the judges that seem to hate us so.""

Laughter echoed down the corridor as the teenager from Scotland laughed at the fake seriousness that the brother of Same Difference just displayed. "Okay, i'm sure that I can keep that promise, no sweat!"

"Then it is cemented." Sean finished determinedly, putting the lower half of his arm out in front of him. Leon looked on with concern for a second then registered as to what Sean was doing and in that instant, put his hand over Sean's own.

"Cemented."

"Can't we just say "friends forever" instead?" Sarah asked plainly, earning small laughs from both Sean and Leon as she placed her hand on top of Leon's... and in one quick movement the three comrades sealed their friendship by flinging their outstretched arms up into the air with a deafening holler.


End file.
